Is parole working for serious offenders?

46-year-old Terrence John Leary has been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent to have sexual intercourse, and grievous bodily harm with intent to murder over the alleged attack on Wednesday.

Court documents reveal he was released into the community on parole last August, after serving 22 years of a 24 year sentence for the murder of a 17-year-old Vanessa Hoson in 1990.

The Victorian Government is currently considering making a breach of parole a criminal offence, and Corrective Services NSW is already conducting a review into the handling of serious sex offenders on parole.

Pauline Wright is the chair of the New South Wales Law Society Criminal Law Committee, and says, "It's not a broken system. What we have is broken individuals. No law is going to stop them from committing these offences. Nothing you bring in in law, no brilliant government draftsperson is going to be able to draft something to stop those individuals who just are bad people."

Listen to Pauline Wright's entire discussion with Adam Spencer, including the nature of plea bargains and what the government's review might achieve, on 702 ABC Sydney from today via the player (right).